New airline routes launched (8 – 14 April 2014)

flynas’ Jeddah to London Gatwick

Seen taxiing under London Gatwick Airport’s passenger bridge is the inaugural thrice-weekly flynas long-haul, low-cost operation from Jeddah. The carrier’s new service was greeted with a cake and half water arch, half rainbow upon arrival at the UK airport on 8 April.

flynas continues to break away from the shackles of the traditional low-cost model, with two more long-haul routes, both starting this week on 8 April, and joining its recently launched operation to Kuala Lumpur. The airline’s Jeddah (JED) hub was connected to London Gatwick (LGW) as well as Karachi (KHI), with only the latter encountering any direct competition. Saudi Arabian Airlines (nine times weekly) and Pakistan International Airlines (six) will be the combatants on the 2,881-kilometre sector to Karachi, whereas to London Gatwick there will be no competition. However, both British Airways and Saudi Arabian Airlines do operate daily services from Jeddah into London Heathrow. Both new routes are flown thrice-weekly and are operated by the LCC’s 331-seat A330s. Commenting on the launch to the UK, Guy Stephenson, COO, London Gatwick, said: “We are very pleased to welcome the first passengers from Jeddah to London Gatwick today as we continue to build on our already successful long-haul network. flynas is the first low-cost carrier to serve Saudi Arabia from the UK, introducing further innovation into the long-haul, low-cost, business model.”

LinksAir’s Doncaster Sheffield to Isle of Man

On 14 April, Doncaster Sheffield Airport celebrated the launch of LinksAir’s thrice-weekly flights to the Isle of Man with a fantastic Jetstream 31-shaped cake. Welcoming the airline’s inaugural flight with a “Jetwash” FTWA are (left to right): Chris Harcombe, Head of Aviation Development, Peel Airports; and Roger Hage, Commercial Manager, LinksAir.

Belfast City Airport recently extended a warm welcome to its newest airline, LinksAir, as it made its first flight to Doncaster Sheffield. The inaugural flight was greeted into Belfast by (left to right): Stephen Gill, MD, Doncaster Sheffield; Ellie McGimpsey, Business Development Manager, Belfast; and Roger Hage, Commercial Manager, LinksAir.

LinksAir, the UK regional airline, has started the only domestic flights from Doncaster Sheffield (DSA) with an 11 times weekly service to Belfast City (BHD), beginning on 11 April, followed three days later by a thrice-weekly operation to Isle of Man (IOM). Both routes will face no direct competition and will be operated by the airline’s 19-seat Jetstream 31s. LinksAir will become the airport’s third scheduled airline, along with Thomson Airways and Wizz Air. Doncaster Sheffield handled nearly 700,000 passengers in 2013. Commenting on the route launch to the Isle of Man, Steve Gill, MD, Doncaster Sheffield, said: “It’s great news to have the Isle of Man flights up and running. We have had significant interest in the route from motorcycle fans since we announced it earlier in the year. It will mean people can get to the Isle of Man from South Yorkshire in less than an hour, opening up new opportunities to access the island for both business and leisure travellers.” In addition, Roger Hage, Commercial Manager, LinksAir, added: “The start of the new route to the Isle of Man is an exciting development for us and comes just days after we started flights to Belfast City from Doncaster Sheffield Airport. Both routes have seen sales ahead of our expectations, which is a positive endorsement of the potential from this region and airport. We have an established reputation for delivering charter flights to a host of destinations and we are now looking forward to the next stage of our development by having this and further future aircraft based in South Yorkshire.”

The rest of this week’s new routes (A – Z by airline)

On 10 April, Aegean Airlines commenced operations on the 1,692-kilometre sector between Athens and Marseille, which will be served twice-weekly using its A320s.

Next day, on 11 April, Aegean Airlines’ A320 arrived at Vienna from Heraklion. The service will be operated twice-weekly, on Fridays and Sundays.

Aegean Airlines, which in the previous week began a domestic link between Rhodes and Heraklion, expanded its European network with six new routes during the course of last week, all of which were launched from Athens (ATH) and Heraklion (HER), using its 168-seat A320s. With the longest route being the 2,433-kilometre service to Bordeaux (BOD) launched on 14 April, and the shortest being inaugurated to Vienna (VIE) at 1,587-kilometres on 11 April, the Star Alliance member will face competition on three of the new routes.

Launch date

Origin

Destination

WF

A/C

Competition (WF)

10 April

Athens (ATH)

Marseille (MRS)

2

A320

Air France (2)

11 April

Heraklion (HER)

Vienna (VIE)

NIKI (2), Austrian Airlines (1)

12 April

Athens (ATH)

Nantes (NTE)

1

Heraklion (HER)

Berlin Tegel (TXL)

airberlin (2), germanwings (2)

13 April

Marseille (MRS)

2

14 April

Bordeaux (BOD)

1

Source: Innovata / Diio Mi w/c 15 April 2014.

On Monday 14 April Air Algérie began serving Lisbon with twice-weekly flights from Algiers. The route was celebrated in Lisbon with a splendid cake and a water arch salute. The airline will compete with TAP Portugal who serve the market with thrice-weekly flights.

Air Algérie follows up its recent new route to Vienna by starting twice-weekly (Mondays and Thursdays) service between Algiers (ALG) and Lisbon (LIS). The 1,110-kilometre route, which launched on Monday 14 April, will be served by a mix of the airline’s 737-600s and 737-800s. The route is already served by TAP Portugal, which operates thrice-weekly flights using a mix of Fokker 100s and ERJ-145s operated by Portugalia.

Air Méditerranée now links the French capital airport of Paris CDG (CDG) with the Balearic island ofPalma de Mallorca(PMI), using the airline’s A320 family of aircraft. The weekly service (Saturdays) on the 1,051-kilometre sector, which began on 12 April, will face direct competition from Jetairfly, which started its own twice-weekly seasonal operation on 13 April.

On 14 April, Riga Airport celebrated the launch of airBaltic’s four weekly flights to Gothenburg, with a cake ceremony. On hand to cut the celebratory cake’s first slice are (left to right): Janis Vanags, VP Corporate Communications, airBaltic; Henrik Landerholm, Ambassador of Sweden in Latvia; and Andis Damlics, Member of the Board, Riga Airport.

airBaltic, the flag carrier of Latvia, commenced another European route, with the resumption of services from Riga (RIX) to Gothenburg (GOT) on 14 April, after they were last operated in April 2011. The 711-kilometre sector to the second largest city in Sweden will be served four times weekly, utilising the airline’s 76-seat Q400s. airBaltic’s second route to Sweden, as it already flies to Stockholm Arlanda with four daily flights, will face no competition from other carriers.

airberlin launched its newest route fromDüsseldorf(DUS) this week, when it began a weekly (Saturdays), 144-seat, 737-700 operation to Calvi (CLY) on the French Mediterranean island of Corsica. The 985-kilometre sector will face no direct competition. Started on 12 April, the service will complement the airline’s existing seasonal operation to Calvi from Cologne Bonn. This summer airberlin will serve almost 70 destinations from Düsseldorf, with flights up around 5% compared with summer 2013.

China Southern Airlines began its 17th route from Guilin (KWL) on 9 April. The carrier added a twice-weekly (Wednesdays and Saturdays), non-stop service on the 1,901-kilometre sector to Muan (MWX) in South Korea, using its 163-seat 737-800s. No other carrier operates this airport pair.

Condor began weekly flights (Mondays) on 14 April between Leipzig/Halle (LEJ) and Djerba (DJE) in Tunisia. The A320-operated service will join the airline’s existing flights to the Tunisian destination which are operated from Düsseldorf, Frankfurt and Munich. Competition on the route will come in the form of Nouvelair Tunisie’s weekly service on the 1,952-kilometre sector.

easyJet, which in the previous week expanded its network with 12 new routes, commenced another European service from Lisbon (LIS) to Nice(NCE) on 10 April. The 1,471-kilometre sector to the fifth most populous city in France will be served thrice-weekly, utilising the airline’s 156-seat A319s. The LCC’s 18th route from Lisbon will face competition from TAP Portugal’s 16 weekly flights.

Far Eastern Air Transport celebrated the launch of its new twice-daily service from Taichung to Makung (located on Penghu Island) on Saturday 11 April. The airline will face competition from Mandarin Airlines’ 16 weekly flights.

Far Eastern Air Transport has introduced a new domestic service in Taiwan. On 12 April it began operating twice-daily on the very short 125-kilometre sector between Taichung (RMQ) and Makung (MZG), located on the western side of Penghu Island, off Taiwan’s west coast. The airline’s MD-80s will operate the flights and face competition from Mandarin Airlines’ 16 weekly flights.

Flybe launched new routes from Birmingham to Alicante, Cologne Bonn, Florence and Porto during the last week, using mostly its Embraer E175s, but also its Q400s, as in the case here of the first flight to Cologne Bonn. Embracing the airline’s new purple branding are Flybe’s VIP business contingent of Peter Mathews CMG, Paul Willoughby, Mandy Haque and Beatrix Troger.

Welcoming Flybe’s first flight from Birmingham at Cologne Bonn Airport on 10 April were (left to right): Tobias Lyssy, Head of Business Development, Cologne Bonn Airport; Paul Willoughby, Regional Sales Manager, Flybe; Peter Mathews, CMG, UK Trade & Industry Export Ambassador; Jan Möller, Head of Business Development, Cologne Bonn Airport; Andreas Schulz, Sales Consultant for Germany, Flybe; Beatrix Troger, solicitor based in Birmingham member, representing German British Chamber of Commerce; and Mandy Haque, Sales & Travel Trade Relationship Manager, Birmingham Airport. A special cake of a Mini was also baked to highlight the strong automotive industry links between the two cities, and the inaugural flight was also welcomed by a water arch salute.

Flybe’s E175 arriving at Florence Airport on 10 April on its maiden flight from Birmingham. The route will be served daily (except Tuesdays) and will face no direct competition.

In Porto Flybe’s maiden flight from Birmingham was welcomed on 12 April with a rainbow-enhanced water arch salute, and an impressive cake. The route will be served up to four times weekly during the summer using the airline’s E175s. Preparing to cut the cake were: Márcia Canêdo, Marketing Analyst Executive, Porto Airport; and Paula Barbosa, Marketing Communication Executive, Porto Airport.

Flybe launched four new routes from its base at Birmingham (BHX) in the UK during the last week. Of the new services to Alicante (ALC), Cologne Bonn (CGN), Florence (FLR) and Porto (OPO) only the Alicante route is served by any other carrier at present. All of the routes will be served by the airline’s E175s with Q400s operating some of the flights on the daily Cologne Bonn route.

Launch date

From

To

WF (Aircraft)

Distance

Competition (WF)

11 April

Birmingham (BHX)

Alicante (ALC)

5 (E175)

1,577 km

Ryanair (8), Monarch Airlines (7),
Thomson Airways (2)

10 April

Cologne Bonn (CGN)

7 (EQV)

639 km

Florence (FLR)

6 (E175)

1,357 km

12 April

Porto (OPO)

3 (E175)

1,352 km

Source: Innovata / Diio Mi for w/c 15 April 2014

Garuda Indonesia has commenced thrice-weekly scheduled flights from Surabaya (SUB) to Jeddah (JED) on 13 April. The 8,625-kilometre sector will be operated by the airline’s 747-400s, and frequency will increase to four weekly flights from 16 May. The airline will face no competition on the route. Garuda already serves Jeddah from Jakarta (12 times weekly) and will launch flights from Medan on 1 May. These new services are aimed at serving Indonesian passengers wishing to undertake the Umrah Pilgrimage who will now no longer have to transit via Jakarta.

germanwings has taken over the Düsseldorf to Cardiff route from Lufthansa. However, just like Lufthansa, germanwings is operating the service using eurowings’ CRJ900s, seen here departing Cardiff on Saturday 12 April.

germanwings launched a whole raft of mostly seasonal flights during the last week. Most are operated with just a single weekly frequency (either Saturday or Sunday) using the airline’s own A319s, or the CRJ900s of eurowings. While many of these are replacing services previously operated by Lufthansa, the Düsseldorf (DUS) services to Ancona (AOI), Bastia (BIA), Lamezia Terme (SUF) and Montpellier (MPL) were not previously served by Lufthansa.

Launch date

From

To

WF (Aircraft)

Distance

Competition (WF)

12 April

Berlin Tegel (TXL)

Ancona (AOI)

1 (CR9)

995 km

13 April

Dubrovnik (DBV)

1 (A319)

1,172 km

12 April

Ibiza (IBZ)

1 (A319)

1,177 km

Cologne Bonn (CGN)

Algiers (ALG)

1 (A319)

1,606 km

Düsseldorf (DUS)

Ancona (AOI)

1 (CR9)

987 km

Bastia (BIA)

1 (EQV)

993 km

Cardiff (CWL)

1 (CR9)

703 km

Catania (CTA)

3 (CR9)

1,672 km

airberlin (5), Air One (2)

13 April

Dubrovnik (DBV)

1 (CR9)

1,304 km

12 April

Lamezia Terme (SUF)

2 (CR9)

1,561 km

Montpellier (MPL)

1 (CR9)

882 km

Newquay (NQY)

1 (CR9)

832 km

Olbia (OLB)

2 (CR9)

1,173 km

airberlin (4)

Zadar (ZAD)

1 (CR9)

1,025 km

Source: Innovata / Diio Mi for w/c 15 April 2014

Luke Lovegrove (that’s him on the right), Commercial Director of HK Express, unveils the new daily service to Fukuoka, the airline’s third destination in Japan, which launched on 10 April.

HK Express has introduced its third route to Japan, and tenth in all, with the start on 10 April of daily flights from Hong Kong (HKG) to Fukuoka (FUK). The airline will operate its 180-seat A320s on the 2,025-kilometre route, which is already served by Dragonair with daily flights. “We are thrilled with the response to our Fukuoka flights,” commented Andrew Cowen, Deputy CEO of HK Express, “I think that once word catches on about the delights of this diverse and interesting city, more and more Hongkongers will start to explore this area of Japan, and discover the amazing experiences on offer.”

This apparently gravity-defying water arch salute greeted InselAir Aruba’s inaugural flight on arrival at Miami International Airport. The four times weekly service will compete directly with American Airlines (14 weekly flights) and Surinam Airways (three weekly flights).

InselAir Aruba, which operates with the ICAO code of 8I, has begun non-stop flights from Aruba (AUA) to Miami, FL (MIA). The new four times weekly service was launched on 11 April and will be operated by the airline’s MD-83s. The 1,820-kilometre route is already served by American Airlines with twice-daily flights, and Surinam Airways, with thrice-weekly flights. According to Frederick Nuboer, Chief Executive Officer of InselAir Aruba, “This is, for many reasons, a very important route for Aruba. Four direct flights per week to Miami will give passengers from both Aruba as well as Miami more travel flexibility. It’s important that a local carrier services this route as all InselAir Aruba employees, such as maintenance personnel, crew and pilots are recruited locally and directly benefit the local economy.” Miami-Dade Aviation Director Emilio T. González, said: “We enthusiastically welcome InselAir Aruba as our newest international airline partner. MIA offers more flights to the Caribbean than any other US airport, and this new service represents another strong option for passengers who want quick, easy access to this beautiful region.”

Jet2.com on 8 Apriladded weekly (Tuesday) flights from its base at East Midlands (EMA) to Funchal (FNC) on the Portuguese island of Madeira. The 2,560-kilometre route will be flown by the airline’s 737-300s until the end of the summer season, and will face competition from Thomson Airways’ also weekly flights. This summer Jet2.com will be operating to 28 destinations from East Midlands Airport, up from 19 last summer. The number of weekly departures at the airport has also grown by over 40%. Apart from East Midlands, Jet2.com will also be serving Funchal from its bases at Glasgow, Leeds Bradford, Manchester and Newcastle this summer.

Jetairfly has enhanced its network from Paris CDG (CDG) with the introduction of new routes to Italy and Spain. All will be served twice-weekly with 737-800s, and all will face direct competition. In addition the airline has also started a new weekly service from Münster/Osnabrück (FMO) to Palma de Mallorca (PMI), which faces severe competition from the might of airberlin, who operate the route twice-daily. This is the airline’s first service from Münster/Osnabrück.

Launch date

From

To

WF (Aircraft)

Distance

Competition (WF)

13 April

Münster/Osnabrück (FMO)

Palma de Mallorca (PMI)

1 (B738)

1,450 km

airberlin (14)

12 April

Paris CDG (CDG)

Malaga (AGP)

2 (B738)

1,485 km

Air Europa (21), easyJet (7)

11 April

Olbia (OLB)

1,056 km

Meridiana (2)

Palermo (PMO)

1,471 km

Meridiana (7), Air One (3),
XL Airways France (2)

Source: Innovata / Diio Mi for w/c 15 April 2014

Lamezia Terme Airport celebrated with a ribbon cutting ceremony and a water arch salute on 12 April, the arrival of Lufthansa’s weekly services from Munich. This is the carrier’s 12th destination in Italy.

Lufthansa has strengthened itsMunich(MUC) hub again this week, following on from the start of thrice-weekly operations to Mexico City on 3 April,this time with a weekly (Saturdays) service to Lamezia Terme (SUF) in Italy.Starting on 12 April, the seasonal service (operating until 1 November) will become the Star Alliance carrier’s twelfth destination in Italy. The route will face no direct competition and will be flown by a variety of equipment.

SAS expanded its European network with the addition of two new services, both of which are launched from Oslo Gardermoen (OSL). With the longest sector being the 2,900-kilometre service to Chania (CHQ) in Greece, launched on 12 April and operated weekly (Saturdays) utilising its 141-seat 737-700s, and the shortest being inaugurated to Edinburgh (EDI) on 10 April and served twice-weekly (Thursdays and Sundays) by a mixed fleet of SAS’ 186-seat 737-800s and 141-seat 737-700s, both airport pairs will be served until 11 October. While the airline’s second route to Edinburgh will face competition from Norwegian’s five weekly services, its fourth route to Greece is already flown by Norwegian with weekly operations. SAS is also planning to commence another service from Edinburgh to Stavanger on 24 April. Commenting on the launch from Scotland, Gordon Dewar, CEO, Edinburgh Airport, said: “We’re delighted to welcome the first of two routes to Norway launching this month. Norway is an important tourism and business link for Scotland and we’re pleased to be working with SAS in developing our good relationship. These services to Oslo and Stavanger will give Scots the chance to visit this beautiful country and allow Norwegian passengers the opportunity to experience all that Edinburgh and Scotland have to offer in 2014.”

Southwest Airlines increased its domestic offering from San Diego, CA (SAN) on 8 April, with the launch of daily flights to New Orleans, LA (MSY). The 2,573-kilometre sector will be operated utilising the LCC’s 143-seat 737-700s. Furthermore Southwest’s 20th route from San Diego will face no competition from other carriers.

SunExpress, the Antalya-based joint venture between Lufthansa and Turkish Airlines, added three European links to its offering during the course of last week, all of which are operated weekly, utilising its 189-seat 737-800s. On 8 April, the airline commenced services (Tuesdays) on the 2,807-kilometre sector from Kayseri (ASR) to Amsterdam (AMS). Three days later, on 12 April, SunExpress inaugurated (Saturdays) the 2,201-kilometre airport pair between Izmir (ADB) and Copenhagen (CPH), while on 13 March, it launched operations (Sundays) fromIzmir (ADB) to Paris CDG (CDG). There is no competition on these three airport pairs. Furthermore, the service to Copenhagen will see a frequency increase to twice-weekly from 1 May.

SWISS, which in the previous week added operations from Geneva to Pristina in Kosovo, increased its European network with four new routes from its Geneva (GVA) base, utilising a mixed fleet of its 138-seat A319s and 168-seat A320s. With the longest sector being the 2,005-kilometre weekly service (Saturdays) to Heraklion (HER) launched on 12 April, and the shortest being inaugurated to Rome Fiumicino(FCO) on 11 April at 695 kilometres, the Star Alliance member will face competition on all four routes, notably from easyJet. In addition, flights to Greece will see a frequency increase to twice-weekly from 27 May.

transavia.com France has significantly expanded its operations from its Paris Orly (ORY) base with the launch of seven new routes to seven different countries. Most of the routes will be operated solely by the airline’s own 737-800s, but some frequencies on some routes will be operated by A320s that are being leased from Air France. Competition is provided on five of the seven routes, with easyJet providing the alternative on three of them. This summer transavia.com France will be offering over 50% more weekly flights from Orly than last summer.

Launch date

From

To

WF (Aircraft)

Distance

Competition (WF)

12 April

Paris Orly (ORY)

Athens (ATH)

5 (B738)

2,110 km

easyJet (3)

Faro (FAO)

2 (B738)

1,538 km

easyJet (2)

Istanbul (SAW)

4 (EQV)

2,287 km

Pegasus Airlines (14)

Malaga (AGP)

4 (EQV)

1,452 km

Vueling (8)

13 April

Pisa (PSA)

5 (EQV)

835 km

easyJet (9)

Prague (PRG)

5 (B738)

877 km

10 April

Tel Aviv (TLV)

3 (B738)

3,289 km

Source: Innovata / Diio Mi for w/c 15 April 2014

Ural Airlines has added another weekly link to Budapest (BUD) this week. After launching flights from Krasnodar last week, this week it began weekly (Sunday) flights from Rostov-on-Don (ROV). The 1,550-kilometre route will be served by one of the airline’s A320s and faces no direct competition.

VivaAerobus, the Mexican low-cost carrier, commenced its second route to Puerto Vallarta (PVR), this time with four weekly flights from Mexico City (MEX) on 11 April. The 660-kilometre sector will be flown utilising the carrier’s 144-seat 737-300s and will face extensive competition from Aeromexico (37 weekly flights), Interjet (14) and Volaris (nine). VivaAerobus is also serving Puerto Vallarta from Monterrey.

Volaris added another international route to its network with the addition of twice-weekly flights (Wednesdays and Saturdays) on the 2,057-kilometre sector from Guadalajara (GDL) to Ontario, CA (ONT) on 10 April. The LCC’s 11th route to the US will be served utilising its 144-seat A319s and will face direct competition from Aeromexico’s five weekly operations.

Volotea has expanded its Bordeaux (BOD) base with the launch, on Saturday 12 April, of three new routes, two to destinations on the island of Corsica, and one in the Spanish Balearic Islands. This summer Volotea will serve 16 destinations from Bordeaux, four more than last summer. In addition the airline has chosen to compete with Iberia on the Asturias (OVD) to Palma de Mallorca (PMI) market. All routes are operated by the airline’s 125-seat 717s.

Launch date

From

To

WF (Aircraft)

Distance

Competition (WF)

13 April

Asturias (OVD)

Palma de Mallorca (PMI)

3 (B717)

834 km

Iberia (5)

12 April

Bordeaux (BOD)

Calvi (CLY)

2 (B717)

808 km

Figari (FSC)

885 km

Hop! (1 from 28 June)

Palma de Mallorca (PMI)

3 (B717)

652 km

Vueling (1)

Source: Innovata / Diio Mi for w/c 15 April 2014

Leipzig/Halle Airport celebrated the launch of its new twice-weekly flights to Barcelona with Vueling on 11 April. This summer Vueling will serve Barcelona non-stop from 11 German airports.

The cake baked in Porto to celebrate Vueling’s new four times weekly service to Barcelona was clearly inspired by Gaudi’s Parc Güell, a major tourist attraction in the Spanish city. Porto becomes the second Portuguese destination served by Vueling from Barcelona, as it already operates double-daily flights to Lisbon.

Vueling has added three new Italian domestic routes, four new Spanish domestic routes and two new international routes from Barcelona (BCN), to Leipzig/Halle (LEJ) and Porto (OPO). Six of the routes are already served by other carriers, notably Ryanair who will compete head-to-head on four of the routes.